WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — The world is mourning basketball legend Kobe Bryant.
Many are choosing to honor him by purchasing his merchandise.
Stores in the Triad are selling his jerseys, autographed cards, and shoes like crazy.
Mike Stang, Owner of Score More Sports Collectibles in Winston-Salem, says it comes down to supply and demand.
"When something like this happens with a player of his stature, it really makes an impact on the collectible world," Stang said of Kobe's passing. "All the sudden there’s not much supply, and all the sudden demand dramatically increases and that drives the price up quite a bit."
How much is quite a bit? It all depends on the type of merchandise, and whether it's been signed by Kobe.
But Stang says it could be 'two to three, to four times more.'
"From an extreme case, like some of his high, high end stuff sells in the tens of thousands of dollars," Stand explained. "If it used to sell at 10-15 thousand, it's now 30-40 thousand, and that’s just overnight."
But again, Stang says that's an extreme case and his cards usually sold in the $200-$500 dollar price range prior to his death.
The phone was ringing off the hook at Score More Sports on Monday morning.
"How many calls have you been getting about Kobe Bryant this morning?" WFMY News 2's Jess Winters asked.
"A bunch," Stang responded. "We’ve already sold out of almost every Kobe item we had in just the short amount of time we’ve been open."
WFMY News 2 went to Dick's Sporting Goods in Winston-Salem and Greensboro. Both stores said they sold double, if not triple the amount of Kobe Bryant shoes they normally do Sunday night.
An employee of Sports Fan-Attic at Four Seasons Town Centre says there was a mad rush for jerseys at their store Sunday night.
Stang says the tragedy hits hard for everyone.
"It's just tragic, especially because it involved his daughter and other folks as well," he said. "It's just heartbreaking."